Flower in the Window
by IcedOver17
Summary: A transfer student from Durmstrang comes to Hogwarts in her 5th year and surprises abound as she and her newfound friends make their way through the year... chapters are insanely long, i know, but they're good!!! promise ;)
1. The Move

This story begins at the end of Harry's 4th year, once the students have all gone back to their own schools. We open at Durmstrang:  
  
"Daisy! What's wrong?" Viktor Krum took one look at his best friend and immediately knew something was wrong. Daisy Keane was a very strong person, and it would take something horrible to make her upset.  
  
Daisy ran up to Viktor and looked at his worried face. "My dad just told me that. we're moving as soon as school's out for the year."  
  
"As soon as school's out for the year? But today's the last day! We're all leaving tomorrow morning!"  
  
"I know." Daisy lowered her head.  
  
"But. why? You're finally getting adjusted to school life, and besides, your dad has a great job here. Why would he decide to move?"  
  
"Better job."  
  
"Better?"  
  
"With the London branch of the Ministry."  
  
At this, Viktor's face lit up in a smile. "That's not so bad, that means you'll probably be going to Hogwarts!"  
  
"What's so great about that? I'm starting to like it here at Durmstrang."  
  
"Hogwarts was where I went for the Triwizard Tournament. That's where Harry Potter goes to school, along with his friend Ron, and of course there's."  
  
"Hermione, right?"  
  
"Yeah! See, you've got three friends already!"  
  
Daisy couldn't help but be happy at hearing all this. Viktor was right, after all. If they knew she was Viktor Krum's best friend, they'd warm up to her, especially Hermione. And who could pass up a change to go to school with the famous Harry Potter?  
  
She flashed a smile and said, "I guess the move won't be so bad after all."  
  
Viktor lost himself in thought for a moment. "How about this: During lunch, we'll go up to send an owl to Hermione, and tell her you're coming. I know she'll be looking forward to meeting you. I told her a lot about you while I was there."  
  
"All right, I guess. Besides, she seems like a nice enough person."  
  
"Oh, she's more than that! She's intelligent, funny, smart, fun, clever, beautiful. The list never ends."  
  
Daisy decided to change the subject with a joke. "Well, if she's intelligent and smart, maybe I could get her to do my homework."  
  
"Don't you go taking advantage of her." There was a definite note of seriousness in Viktor's voice.  
  
"I would think that by now you know me better than that," she retorted. "I know better than to take advantage of nice people, even if they are really smart."  
  
Viktor smiled again. "I know, I know. Maybe during Christmas holidays, I'll come visit you at your new home."  
  
"Well, I don't know. I may want to stay at the school during Christmas break, but I doubt it."  
  
"Then who am I supposed to practice Quidditch with? Alexander's still at school this year, now you're gone."  
  
"Viktor, you're on the national team! You've got 6 able bodied people to practice with!"  
  
"Yeah, but they're all so much older than me, and they treat me like a little kid sometimes," he complained. "And they never let me play Chaser!"  
  
Daisy looked at him. "Well, you and Alexander never let me play Chaser."  
  
Viktor wore a confused expression on his face. "But you love being Keeper!"  
  
"That's not the point. Don't be hypocritical."  
  
"Don't nag."  
  
"I'll nag if I want!"  
  
"Okay, Mother!"  
  
They both laughed. Daisy was starting to feel a little more optimistic about moving, yet didn't want to leave her best friend, her brother of sorts, behind.  
  
"Hogwarts won't be so bad," Viktor said. "They've got this huge lake, but I wouldn't recommend swimming in there. And there's a really creepy forest, and an enormous library!"  
  
"I'll be alright there, I think."  
  
"I know you will. Now let's send that owl." 


	2. King's Cross

Daisy shuffled her owl into her other hand as she helped Viktor grab her trunk. Since their last year at Durmstrang had been Viktor's seventh and final year, he had come to London with Daisy to help her off to Hogwarts.  
  
Their friendship was a strange one, filled with differences in age, upbringing, and even personality. Viktor was 18; Daisy was only 15. They had been three years apart at school, so Daisy was entering her fifth year now that Viktor had graduated. She was of Irish blood and had been born in Ireland, but had also lived in Lithuania, Germany, and Norway before coming to Bulgaria to start school at Durmstrang. Viktor had been born and raised in Bulgaria. He focused most of his time of Quidditch and schoolwork, whereas Daisy was more carefree and laidback.  
  
The one thing they had in common was their love of Quidditch. They would often practice with friends on weekends; Viktor would get a chance to play positions other than Seeker, but he was never as good at those. Daisy loved being Keeper, which gave their friend Alexander Poliakoff plenty of practice at his position, Chaser. They all dreamed of playing on the national team, but so far only Viktor had achieved their goal, since Alexander was no good at catching and Daisy wasn't quite sure which country she could play for. She was an extremely skilled Keeper, though.  
  
The owl Daisy carried had been a going-away gift from Alexander. She had decided to name the bird Pepper, because of its gray and black feathers. With an owl, she would still be able to keep in touch with Viktor and Alexander. Viktor had given her a photo album with lots of moving pictures of the three of them playing Quidditch, and a few others they had taken the summer before and when they had first met, in Daisy's first year.  
  
Daisy glanced at her ticket again with a confused expression. Platform 9 ¾? How would she ever find that? She turned to ask Viktor, only to see him break into a smile and yell out, "Hermione!"  
  
A girl with dark bushy hair turned around, grinning when she saw Viktor. He and Daisy quickly dragged the trunk over to where Hermione was standing with six red-haired people and one boy with black hair and glasses. She knew who this boy must be.  
  
They put the trunk on a trolley and Viktor grabbed Hermione in a huge embrace.  
  
Daisy took a second look at the family with flaming hair. There were four children, most likely students at the school, and a couple, who were obviously the parents. The youngest child was the only girl who Daisy thought looked a year or two younger than she was. One of the boys was about her own age and was standing next to Harry Potter. As she looked at the other two boys, she realized that they were twins, probably about seventeen years old.  
  
She looked at Viktor and Hermione, noticed that they were still holding each other, and then glanced awkwardly at the others. She thought to herself that the twins were extremely good-looking, as was their brother. When Hermione and Viktor broke apart at last, Viktor grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her over to Daisy.  
  
He looked at Daisy and said "Daisy Keane, this is Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Daisy."  
  
Daisy smiled at Hermione and said, "It's wonderful to finally meet you after hearing Viktor talk about you all summer."  
  
Hermione went pink. "He's also talked a lot about you. All good things, of course," she added, returning Daisy's smile.  
  
"I'm glad to know you will be with Hermione," Viktor said cheerfully. "You're in good hands now. Daisy, where is your owl?"  
  
"My.? Oh! Pepper!" Daisy glanced around, finally noticing a soft hooting from behind the twins. When she gave them a questioning look, they both grinned maniacally, one turning as red as his hair.  
  
"Fred! George! Give the girl back her owl!" the mother yelled at the twins. One of them, the blushing one, walked over to Daisy and handed Pepper's cage to her.  
  
"Thank you," She said to him.  
  
He replied with nothing more than a muttered "Sure" as he stepped away, still looking at her with a glazed look on his face.  
  
His twin hit him playfully in the stomach, knocking his senses back to him. "Come off it, George! You haven't been this quiet since Charlie put that curse on you in our first year!"  
  
"Come on now, it's almost 11:00," the father called out. "We've got to get you lot on the train. Fred, George, you two go first."  
  
The twins rolled their trolley over to a brick barrier, moving almost at a run. Surely they would crash, Daisy thought to herself. She was ready to turn her head when, without warning, the twins simply ran right through the wall. Harry and the other redheaded boy immediately followed.  
  
Hermione turned to Viktor. "Viktor, you go on with Daisy. You can just Apparate back home when the train leaves."  
  
Viktor grabbed Pepper's cage and motioned for Daisy to follow with her trolley. They walked towards the wall. Daisy braced herself for the crash that never came. 


	3. Hogwarts Express I

Daisy looked up to see a huge train. Hermione and the young girl came through the seemingly solid brick wall behind them, followed by the parents.  
  
All ten of them just stood there for a while, until Hermione blurted out, "Oh! Daisy, this," (she pointed to the parents) "is Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, and these are their kids. Well, except for the boy with dark hair, that's."  
  
"Harry Potter," Daisy filled in.  
  
"Yes," Hermione continued, "and the twins are Fred and George, this," (she put her arm around the girl) "is Ginny, and the boy next to Harry is Ron. Weasleys and Harry, this is Daisy Keane.  
  
"It's great to meet you all," Daisy said in her Irish accent. Everyone chorused in agreement.  
  
Mr. Weasley looked at the watch on his wrist and jumped. "Alright, everyone on the train! It's about to head off!"  
  
Everyone except Viktor and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley piled onto the train with all their stuff. Daisy remembered about Pepper at the last minute and leaned out of the train to grab him from Viktor, who gave her a last hug before she stepped back into the hall.  
  
"Come on, Daisy, in here." She saw Ron motioning her into a compartment. She walked into a compartment with eight seats, five of them being used. Harry was sitting between Hermione and Ron, who had a window seat. Sitting across from Harry and Ron were two boys their age that Daisy had never seen before. The boy across from Harry was freckled; the one across from Ron had skin the color of milk chocolate.  
  
Ron addressed the two boys and said, "This is Daisy Keane. Daisy, this is Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan."  
  
Seamus, the boy with freckles, looked at her and said, "Keane? You Irish, by any chance?"  
  
Daisy smiled and sat in the empty seat next to him. "Yes, I was born there, but we moved when I was a year old. But both my parents were Irish, so I've got the accent."  
  
The dark boy, Dean, said, "Where did you live after that?"  
  
Daisy took a deep breath before continuing. "We moved to Germany. When I was four, we moved to Norway. We lived there for five years before my father got a job in the Slavic branch of the Ministry, so we moved to Lithuania. When I was eleven, I moved with my father to Bulgaria so I could go to Durmstrang. And two months ago, we moved to London because Papa got a job with the British branch of the Ministry, so now I've got to switch schools."  
  
Seamus' eyes glistened. "I don't think there've been many transfer students at Hogwarts before."  
  
"There's never been any in the whole history of the school! I remember reading that in Hogwarts, a History," Hermione said. Daisy thought she saw Ron rolling his eyes at Seamus, who snickered.  
  
Dean looked up with sudden thought. "Hey, Daisy, what's Viktor Krum really like? I couldn't tell while he was here; he spent so much time in the library. Is he really as quiet as he seems?"  
  
Daisy thought she saw Hermione turning pink again.  
  
"Well, he is pretty quiet, and very studious, but he gets started talking about Quidditch he'll never stop!"  
  
Harry spoke up for the first time. "Too bad he's not a Keeper, or we could kidnap him to take Wood's place."  
  
"Wood?" Daisy inquired.  
  
"Yeah." Harry looked sad at the thought. "He was the Keeper on our House Quidditch team, but he graduated. We're going to need a replacement, but no one in Gryffindor is any good."  
  
"Well, there's that second-year, Danny Something." Ron began.  
  
Daisy interrupted him. "Are girls allowed on the team?"  
  
Harry nodded. "All our Chasers are girls. I'm the Seeker, and Fred and George Weasley are the Beaters. Wood used to call them Human Bludgers."  
  
"I wonder what house I'll be in," Daisy thought out loud.  
  
"I hope you're in Gryffindor with all of us," Hermione said. "That way I'll have another girl in my year to talk to. Usually it's just these guys and Neville."  
  
Daisy said something that had been on her mind the past few minutes: "Viktor taught me to play Quidditch as Keeper. If I'm in Gryffindor, and you don't have anyone else of course, I'd like to give the House team a try. But you aren't going to want a transfer student anyway, especially one taught the position by a Seeker."  
  
"Are you any good?" Seamus asked.  
  
"Well, Viktor said I was, and our friend Alexander Poliakoff used to tell me I could play for a national team, if only I could figure out which country I belong to."  
  
"Excellent!" Ron was clearly elated. "Now we'll slam Slytherin for sure!"  
  
"But, Ron, we don't even know what House she's going to be in," said Hermione matter-of-factly.  
  
Dean looked stunned. "Aw, Hermione, don't shoot us down like that!"  
  
Before Hermione or anyone else could reply, a strange looking witch opened the door to their compartment, looking around at them all. 


	4. Hogwarts Express II

I just remembered something today! :  
  
Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own most of these characters, J.K. Rowling (literary genius that she is) owns them. All I own is the (pathetic excuse for a) plot and Daisy Keane.  
  
Okay now on to the important part! And thank you Shawn =)  
  
  
  
"Hello, dears," said the old woman sweetly. She was pushing a cart full of wizard candy and snacks. "Will any of you be buying anything from the cart today?"  
  
Seamus, Dean, and Harry all pulled money out and bought plenty of junk food, enough to share with the others. When they all had their purchases, they sat back down and the lady left, closing the compartment door.  
  
"Chocolate frog?" Seamus handed one of his snacks over to Daisy.  
  
As soon as she had taken the chocolate and thanked him, the compartment door burst open and a short, round-faced boy ran in, slammed the door shut behind him, tripped over his robes, and fell to the floor.  
  
"Neville!" Ron yelled. "What's wrong?"  
  
Neville panted for breath. Between gasps, he managed to say, "Malfoy!"  
  
Seamus jumped up and took out his wand. "Alright, what'd that pus ball do now?" Dean, Ron, and Harry stood up as well, each of them pulling out his wand."  
  
Neville stood up, helped by Hermione. He had somewhat managed to catch his breath. "No. not him. not Draco."  
  
"Lucius?" Hermione asked.  
  
Neville nodded.  
  
"Damn," Seamus muttered. "I really wanted an excuse to curse him."  
  
"Me too," said Ron. "One of these days, though, I won't need an excuse. I'll just catch a glimpse of him and WHAM! He'll be a ferret again!"  
  
Everyone laughed, even Daisy, who had no clue what Ron meant by "again."  
  
Hermione seemed to be the first to come to her senses. "Hang on, Neville. Where did you see Lucius Malfoy?"  
  
"I didn't." Neville sounded fearful. "I heard him. He must have Apparated onto the train or something."  
  
Hermione gave Neville and took the seat on the end next to him; the four other boys sat down and put their wands away.  
  
Hermione had a thoughtful look on her face. "Neville, I don't think that's possible. No, I know it isn't possible. There must have been some kind of device. I remember reading about something in a book this summer called an audistora."  
  
"Bill's told me about those!" Ron exclaimed. "They're supposed to be like Muggle walkie-talkies, except they run on magic, not electricity. Right, Hermione?"  
  
"Right, Ron. Malfoy must have been using an audistora to talk to his father. I can't think what else it could be."  
  
At that moment, there was a loud knock on the compartment door. Neville let out a squeak of terror. The door opened yet again, this time revealing a pale, blond boy flanked by what looked at first like two apes, but Daisy soon realized that they were only tall, ugly boys. The blond boy looked at Daisy.  
  
"Who are you? I don't remember seeing you before," he said to her.  
  
Daisy stared back at him. "This is my first year here. I used to go to Durmstrang."  
  
"Well in that case, I think you should be with my crowd." The boy sat in the empty seat next to her. "You're not in good company now; you wouldn't want to be seen in the company of a Weasley and a Mudblood." He looked pointedly at Ron and Hermione as he said this.  
  
Daisy gasped when she realized that he had called Hermione a Mudblood.  
  
The boy stared at her with a different look on his face; a look of what he obviously thought was sympathy. "So like I was saying, come to the next chamber with me and meet some real wizards, the kind who aren't a disgrace to our people."  
  
"No thanks, I'm having fun with these wizards," Daisy quickly retorted. "They don't seem much of a disgrace to me. Besides, I, as a half-blood, would much rather be with a Weasley and a Muggle-born than with someone who uses the word 'Mudblood' so freely. Thanks anyway, though. Maybe later." She gave him a fake smile.  
  
The boy scowled and stood up as he walked off with his two silent companions. Daisy got up and shut the door behind them, then sat back down next to Seamus.  
  
She looked around at everyone. "Let me guess. that was Malfoy?"  
  
"Yes," Hermione said with a disgusted expression on her face.  
  
"Well, I can definitely see why you all want to curse him. I wouldn't mind helping you on that one; I know a damn good one for making someone sprout fangs. all over their body."  
  
This seemed to lighten the mood, since everyone laughed, although Neville's laugh seemed a bit forced.  
  
The rest of the train trip passed without disruption - well, except when Fred and George came in to test some pieces of joke candy, one of which made Neville's skin turn bright blue for about 15 minutes. Laughs were shared and friends were made as the train descended into the night and Daisy felt, for the first time, glad to be there. 


	5. Arrival at Hogwarts

Again, I own nothing except Daisy, Dirk, and Professor Berlin. Oh yeah, and the plot!  
  
Daisy walked off of the train and into a carriage with Neville, Dean, and Seamus, who she sat next to. Only when they had started moving did she realize that there was nothing pulling them towards the castle looming high over them.  
  
For the first time that Daisy had noticed, Neville looked relaxed.  
  
"You know, Daisy, I'm pretty glad you've come," he said as they bounded up to Hogwarts Castle. I'll have another sane person around, besides Hermione."  
  
"But, Neville, you've got me and Dean!"  
  
Dean piped up. "Seamus, he said 'sane,' not 'strange'!"  
  
They all laughed.  
  
Daisy was the first to overcome her fit of giggles. "I'm glad to be here too, Neville. I only hope I'm in Gryffindor with you all. All the Gryffindors I've met are really wonderful. What are the other Houses?"  
  
"Well, there's Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, but no one pays much attention to them except the people in those Houses," said Dean. "Then Gryffindor of course, which is the best, but I may be a little biased on that issue. And then there's Slytherin."  
  
"Every witch or wizard that's been evil has been in Slytherin, including. You-Know-Who," Seamus added.  
  
"He was at Hogwarts?" Daisy was startled by this fact, but she wasn't sure why.  
  
"Yeah, years and years ago," Dean answered. "I just hope the school stays open, even during these times, with You-Know-Who out there again."  
  
Neville shuddered and said, "Can we please talk about something a bit more cheerful?"  
  
Seamus nodded. "So Daisy, how'd you handle the World Cup last year? What with the country you lived in plus your best friend playing against the country you were born in, the country of your parents?"  
  
Daisy grinned at him. "Turned out perfect. My birth country won, but my best friend caught the Snitch. The best of the situation, I think. Were you there?"  
  
"Yeah, me and Dean went." Seamus looked across at Dean, who nodded fervently. "It was amazing!"  
  
"I assume you were in one of the shamrocked tents?" Daisy asked. Seamus nodded in agreement. "I was with the Bulgarians. We had a huge poster of Viktor on the tent, just like all the others."  
  
Dean looked over curiously. "All the Bulgarian tents were plastered with Krum?" Daisy nodded. "The Irishmen were just plain plastered the whole time!"  
  
Daisy, Seamus, and Neville laughed hysterically.  
  
"We never got around to seeing the Bulgarian section," Dean continued as the others ended their chortling. "How'd you get over to see the Irish tents?"  
  
Daisy blushed slightly as she began her answer. "Well, I kinda made Alexander sneak over with me. If that crowd had known we were from Bulgaria, they would have hexed us to no end. So we changed into some Irish Muggle clothes I had, then I charmed our hair to change back and forth from our natural brown hair and green. After that, we just walked over the day before the match to check it out."  
  
Before Seamus, eyes glazed in wonderment, could respond, the carriage jerked to a halt. They were here at last.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Daisy stood with the first years that were being sorted. She noticed one boy standing the group who didn't look much like a first year. In fact, he looked about 15, the same age as Daisy.  
  
Finally, there was no one left standing except for Daisy and the boy she had noticed. The woman who had identified herself as Professor McGonagall spoke out to all the students, seated at four long tables according to House.  
  
"As I'm sure most of you now know, we have two new transfer students, both beginning their fifth year of school," Professor McGonagall said.  
  
Daisy looked at the Gryffindors. Everyone but Ron, Harry, and Hermione looked as confused as she was to hear of another transfer student.  
  
"As this has never happened before, the staff has decided not to use the Sorting Hat in this instance. Instead, each of the students will create an illusion of an animal of their choice. Could we please have Miss Daisy Keane come up here?"  
  
Daisy walked, shaking, up to Professor McGonagall. She took out her wand, then politely asked, "Any animal at all?" When Professor McGonagall nodded, Daisy took a deep breath and looked out to the Gryffindors, hoping for a sign of what to make. All she saw was Seamus wink at her.  
  
Inspiration suddenly struck.  
  
Daisy waved her wand and muttered a few words, conjuring up the form of a lion. The only thing was, it wasn't colored like a lion, but it sure roared like one. The lion's fur had different patches of color on it; Daisy thought they all looked somewhat familiar. Only when she waved her wand to make the illusion vanish did she realize that the patches of color were each in the pattern of the flag of one of six countries: England, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Norway, Germany, and, biggest of all, Ireland.  
  
As she stepped away, Daisy flashed Seamus a huge smile; he grinned back and clapped with the rest of the students in the Great Hall.  
  
Once the applause died down, Professor McGonagall spoke again. "Miss Keane, please take a seat with the Gryffindors, if you would."  
  
The Great Hall roared with applause again, although none were cheering more than Hermione, Fred, George, Neville, and Seamus. Each of them was more thankful for Daisy's arrival than the rest of the students, in their different ways.  
  
Professor McGonagall quieted the students again. "Now, our other new student, Mr. Dirk Sivonen."  
  
As the boy walked up to Professor McGonagall, Daisy sat in the seat Hermione and Ron had made between them. They all looked up to watch Dirk, who was frantically searching his mind.  
  
"We were in a carriage with him," Ron whispered to Daisy. "He's from some little town in Finland and if you ask me, he's a little on the shifty side. I'd bet anything he'll be in Slytherin."  
  
Hermione opened her mouth to comment, but was hushed by Harry, who pointed up at Dirk. He had conjured a snake that had scales with a shining silvery green color.  
  
"See?" Ron hissed. "The symbol off Slytherin is a snake, and their colors are green and silver. Just watch!"  
  
"Sure enough, once the snake vanished, Professor McGonagall stepped up and said, "Mr. Sivonen, would you please join the Slytherins at their table?"  
  
The Slytherin table broke into applause; everyone else just clapped politely. Dirk walked over and sat down across from Malfoy at the Slytherin table, but not before he leered and shot a wink at Hermione. She shot something a little more obscene back at him. (A/N: I know, out of character for Hermione, but I like that phrasing!)  
  
"Hermione!" Ron said, shocked. "What'd you do that for?"  
  
"He had no right to do that! Ugh! The sheer audacity! I just can't believe he had the nerve to do such a thing!"  
  
Daisy patted Hermione on the shoulder. "It's all right, Hermione. I understand where you're coming from."  
  
Hermione looked at her with relief. "Thank you! I'm glad to have a girl around, someone who understands how wrong it is for guys to do that!"  
  
"They just can't keep their damn hormones under control!" Daisy added.  
  
Without warning, both girls suddenly burst into giggles, leaving all the boys very confused.  
  
Up at the teachers' table, a tall, very old-looking man stood up and began to speak. "Now that we have all our students in place, I would like to introduce a new staff member. Professor Joseph Berlin will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."  
  
The old man gestured to a tall, tanned man with short dark brown hair and glasses. Professor Berlin stood up, gave the students a modest wave and smile, and sat back down.  
  
"Look at Snape!" Harry whispered to Ron and Hermione. Hermione then whispered to Daisy.  
  
"See that teacher up there with the long, oily hair? That's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but it's common knowledge that he's wanted the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for years."  
  
The old man then said, "I believe that is all I have to say. Let us now eat."  
  
With a wave of his hand, food appeared on the golden plates in front of them.  
  
During the rest of the mean, Hermione proceeded to point out all of the other teachers, telling Daisy the subjects they taught as well. Hermione identified the tall old man as Professor Dumbledore, the Headmaster, and she also told Daisy to steer clears of the skeletal school caretaker, Mr. Filch, and his cat, Mrs. Norris.  
  
Daisy noticed Dirk Sivonen looking at her often, and pointed this out to Hermione.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, he'll soon be taught by Malfoy not to associate with Gryffindors, especially those that are Muggle-born or half-blood."  
  
"Yeah," Daisy smiled. "Until then, he'll just have to watch those raging hormones of his!"  
  
Hermione laughed. This was inconvenient, as she was taking a large sip of pumpkin juice at the time, which she almost spit across the table and all over Harry. This just made her and Daisy laugh even harder.  
  
"Mental, those two," Ron said to Harry. "Good thing Daisy's come, she can put up with it. and probably add to it!"  
  
Harry rolled his eyes in agreement. "Girls," he muttered.  
  
You know, Daisy thought as she helped herself to a treacle tart, I could get to like it here.  
  
I know, the whole carriage ride was too long for reality, and this was an insanely long chapter, but hey, this is my story and I can do what I want!!! *sticks her tongue out at everyone* So, um, please review, even if you think my story sucks so far. 


	6. Old Bats & Trick Steps

Shawn, I hope ya know I love ya kid, I'm putting these next 2 chapters up JUST FOR YOU! And of course anyone else who wants to read them hehe  
  
Disclaimer - I am as poor as the Weasleys when it comes to what I own, which is nothing more or less than Daisy Keane, Dirk Sivonen, Professor Joseph Berlin, and my odd little plot. All else belongs to J.K. Rowling *applause* WOOHOO!!!  
  
  
  
Daisy woke up to Hermione shaking her shoulder roughly.  
  
"Ah, Hermione, what's going on?" Daisy murmured sleepily.  
  
Hermione stopped shaking her. "We've slept in! We're going to be late!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Daisy sat bolt upright in bed. Being late would certainly not make a good first impression on her teachers. She turned to ask Hermione what their first class was, only to see that Hermione was standing calmly and grinning widely.  
  
Realization dawned in Daisy's mind. "Hermione. we didn't really sleep in at all, did we?"  
  
"Nope, but nothing else would wake you up, so I had to resort to drastic measures." She grinned again.  
  
Daisy groaned and got out of her bed to rummage through her trunk for her robes.  
  
"You should hurry, though," Hermione continued, "Because Ron, Harry, and the rest of the guys are in the common room waiting for us to go to breakfast."  
  
"The rest of the guys?" Seamus?  
  
Hermione looked at her curiously. "Just the bunch of us who were together on the train."  
  
Yay! Daisy's mind called out. Seamus!  
  
She scrambled to get ready, but Hermione wouldn't let her walk out of the dormitory.  
  
"Daisy, you haven't looked in a mirror, have you?"  
  
"Um. no, I don't think so, why do you ask?"  
  
"Well." Hermione wasn't sure how to put it. "I can't say this in a nicer way, but you've got one of the worst cases of bed-head I've ever seen!"  
  
Daisy dived back to grab a brush out of her trunk. Hermione helped her look presentable, and they were finally ready to go.  
  
They walked into the common room, then walked to the Great Hall with Harry, Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville.  
  
"What's our first class today, Harry?" Ron asked as they all sat down at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"Divination. Ugh. Why can't that old bat die of breathing in all that smoke she's always got swirling through her room?"  
  
Daisy looked over curiously. "Oh, come on, no one can be that bad. can they?"  
  
"Oh, just wait until you meet this one!" Hermione said. "She's so flaky! I couldn't even bring myself to so much as stay in that class. I look over at Harry, sitting here in his fifth year healthy as anything, then think back to how many times Professor Trelawney predicted he'd die in our third year. Doesn't look very dead to me!"  
  
"Don't jinx him, Hermione," said Dean, who was sitting next to Daisy.  
  
From the other side of Dean, Daisy heard Seamus' voice saying, "But she wasn't jinxing him, she was just talking. She didn't even have her wand out!"  
  
"It's a Muggle expression, Seamus. Don't think on it too much." Dean sighed in exasperation.  
  
"I still don't see how she could be all that bad," Daisy said quietly.  
  
Seamus leaned around behind Dean to whisper to her. "Professor Trelawney's the only teacher Hermione's ever said a bad word about! I mean, she's even defended Snape! You'd better believe this lady's an odd one. It's like Harry said, she's absolutely, 100%, a silly old bat!"  
  
Daisy giggled and sat upright to finish her bacon.  
  
Soon enough, the six of them (minus Hermione, who had of course dropped Divination) tromped off to Professor Trelawney's room in the North Tower.  
  
When they were almost there ("Only two more flights of stairs!" Ron had said with false cheeriness) Seamus grabbed Daisy's arm to hold her back until they were lagging a little behind the others.  
  
"So what was that for?" Daisy asked as they resumed their walking.  
  
Seamus shrugged. "I don't know, I haven't figured that part out yet."  
  
Daisy chuckled to herself. "I know this is a little silly, but it's really great to hear another Irish voice around school." She smiled at Seamus.  
  
He smiled back. "It's not silly. I feel the same way. I think the reason I held you back was to have a moment alone with you, just to hear nothing but Irish voices."  
  
They walked in silence as they made their way to the last staircase.  
  
"Sorry," Daisy blurted out. "I mean, you said you wanted to hear Irish voices, but I'm not talking much."  
  
"It's alright, there's not much to talk about. We'll have all year to have idle Irish chatter." He smirked, making Daisy laugh.  
  
They stopped walking for a minute and just looked at each other, hearing the murmur of voices of the rest of their class.  
  
Seamus took Daisy's hand and motioned for them to continue. "Shall we? Don't want to be late."  
  
Daisy nodded and they continued. Daisy stepped into one of the last stairs, only to sink into it up to her knee.  
  
Seamus laughed out loud. "I guess someone forgot to tell you there's trick stairs around the school. I always forget where they are, though. And some of the stair cases like to move around and change."  
  
He bent over to help her out of the step. He held her for a short moment, even after they had reached the top of the stairs.  
  
"Well," he said, "I don't hear voices anymore. They've probably already gone in. Let's get there before all the comfortable chairs are taken."  
  
They opened the trap door and listened, trying to hear if Professor Trelawney had noticed that they weren't there.  
  
"Hang on!" Ron said to Harry quietly. They were sitting close to the door, and Daisy and Seamus could hear them. "Harry, where'd Seamus and Daisy go? They were right behind us!"  
  
Unfortunately, Professor Trelawney must have heard them, because Daisy heard a misty voice she didn't recognize. "Do not worry, my dear pupils. The girl has simply sunk into one of the trick stairs of the school, and Mr. Finnigan is helping her out. In fact, I believe they are at the door now."  
  
Taking the cue, Seamus opened the trap door and they climbed in. Determined to try and prove Professor Trelawney's prediction wrong, he said so the whole class could hear, "Sorry we're late, Professor, but we had to take a detour so I could get my first kiss." He grinned widely at Daisy, whose eyes had gone wide in disbelief.  
  
They sat down at a low table with the other Gryffindor boys as Professor Trelawney gave them a look of disbelief - disbelief that she could have predicted wrong, that is.  
  
Ron whispered to Seamus, "Were you really kissing?"  
  
"Nah." Seamus shrugged. "But I didn't want 'Professor Misery' over there to know she was right." 


	7. A Bonding Moment

I OWN NOTHING! *sniffle* but wait! I do have Daisy, and Dirk, and Prof. Berlin, and even my plot! YAY!  
  
  
  
"Daisy!" Hermione said in what sounded like a disapproving voice as she sat down next to Daisy in the common room just before lunch. "I was just talking to Lavender and Parvati, they said that you and Seamus were late to Divination."  
  
"Yeah, we were," Daisy said, not seeing the point.  
  
"Well, they also said that Seamus told Professor Trelawney that the reason you guys were late was because. er."  
  
"Because we were off kissing somewhere?"  
  
"Yes. Wait, were you?"  
  
Daisy gave Hermione a look of disbelief. "Before we walked in, we heard Professor Trelawney say that we were late because I sank into one of the trick steps, which was the truth. But Seamus didn't want her to know that she was right, so he just made something up. Do I really come off as being that easy, Hermione?"  
  
"No, it's just that, with Seamus, one can never be quite sure, because he's the type of person who'd make that sort of thing well known," Hermione said uncertainly. "You've got a thing for him, don't you?" she added, noticing the unfocused look on Daisy's face.  
  
"I. what? No, we just. I mean to say, he." Daisy looked up at Hermione while she sputtered.  
  
Hermione smirked in a self-satisfied way.  
  
"Look, it's. we're only. Oh damn, Hermione." Daisy finally gave up, saying, "How'd you guess?"  
  
"I can just tell," Hermione said. "I may not have known you for very long, but I still feel like I've known you ages, and I can tell all these little things about you, like what your mannerisms mean. But it didn't take all that to see how much you like Seamus," she added with a grin.  
  
"It's that obvious?" Daisy said nervously.  
  
"Definitely, and it's just as obvious that he feels the same way!"  
  
"I don't think so." Daisy began.  
  
Hermione laughed. "Oh please! Can't you see the way he looks at you? Don't you remember yesterday, on the train? And not only the fact that he gave you chocolate. He talked to you more than he did to Dean, and Dean's his best friend! Plus, he kept you talking while everyone got into the carriages so you'd get in the same carriage! And then."  
  
"Okay, okay, I get the point!" Daisy pouted a little.  
  
"No, wait, I've got one more point to make," Hermione said. "You all left breakfast at the same time to go to class. How is it that nobody knew where you and Seamus were?"  
  
Daisy fidgeted. "Well, he held my arm to stop me and we walked a little bit behind the others after that."  
  
"See?" Hermione was looking very happy.  
  
"But. Oh, I guess you're right."  
  
"No, you know I'm right," Hermione said.  
  
Daisy fought back a smile. "Fine. But just what do."  
  
She was cut off by a semi-loud explosion coming from one corner of the common room. Fred, George, and one of their friends (Daisy soon learned that this friend was Lee Jordan, who also commentated the Quidditch matches) had "innocently" set some chocolate frogs on fire to try to melt the chocolate. Instead of simply melting like regular chocolate, the enchanted chocolate had exploded, splattering Lee and the twins with steaming chocolate.  
  
Everyone in the common room laughed.  
  
Ron, overcoming fits of laughter long enough to talk, said, "You three better get to Madam Pomfrey quick! Or you'll miss lunch!"  
  
Fred, George, and Lee dashed out of the common room, hastened by the fear of missing a meal.  
  
Hermione turned to Daisy. "We'll finish our talk later. Loverboy's walking over."  
  
Daisy looked up to see Dean, Neville, and Seamus walking over to where they were sitting.  
  
"Hey, Hermione, what've we got after lunch?" Dean inquired.  
  
"Care of Magical Creatures, which is the good point."  
  
"What's the bad point?" Daisy asked.  
  
Hermione wrinkled her nose. "We've got it with the Slytherins."  
  
"So?" Daisy said. "They can't ruin a good class. I met Hagrid on my way here to the common room, and he doesn't seem bad at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. But then again, we're talking about the Slytherins."  
  
"Too true," said Neville. "But it's about time for lunch. Let's go to the Great Hall, then after we eat we'll worry about whether of not the lesson's going to be good."  
  
  
  
  
  
Okay that was short, and a little pointless, but I wanted to have the whole thing where Hermione and Daisy have that little bonding moment (hence the title of the chapter, "A Bonding Moment") so you'll just have to deal with it and review! ~enter maniacal laugh here~ muahahahahaha 


	8. Draco's Apology & Parvati's Idea

I'm having issues with the italics! So if something in my previous chapters doesn't make sense, try thinking of it as a thought, which is what I've been using italics for. But I think from here on out I'm just going to use an asterisk. You know, one of these: * *damn Microsoft Word* see? Muahahaha (sorry, caffeine rush)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, only the ones I made up (Daisy Keane, Dirk Sivonen, and Professor Berlin, who will come in soon I promise! Well not really soon, probably.. chapter 10? Anyways I'll try!  
  
*Also, for this chapter, you need to keep in mind that Dean is Muggle-born and Seamus is half-and-half (just like Daisy! Woohoo!) and you need to know that Dirk Sivonen is pureblood (well duh he's in Slytherin!) okay so anyways here's the chapter!  
  
  
  
  
  
The Gryffindors arrived at their Care of Magical Creatures class early so they could squeeze in a few words with Hagrid. "H'lo there," Hagrid said as they walked towards him. "Hi Hagrid," the students all chorused. "Hey, Hagrid, you met Daisy yet?" Dean asked. Hagrid beamed down at Daisy. "O' course I have! Couldn' miss out on a chance to meet our newest Gryffindor, now, could I?" Daisy grinned. They all moved away from Hagrid as the Slytherins arrived. "You know, I've been wondering.." Daisy said. "Ron, you told me that Slytherin's symbol is a snake, and that's why Dirk Sivonen is in Slytherin. Why did I get put in Gryffindor, then?" Ron lost himself in thought. "Well, your personality, of course, is the key factor. But, it's like with Dirk, the animal that you conjured was the house symbol. Plus, I think the little patches of color meant something." "They were the flags of everywhere you lived, Daisy, weren't they?" Seamus asked. Daisy was stunned. "How did you know that? Could you really see that far?" "All I saw was the Bulgarian flag, the English flag, and the Irish flag, which was the biggest one, right?" "Yeah.." Daisy was still amazed. Seamus looked proud. "So I figured the others must be Germany, Lithuania, and Norway." Just as Daisy had begun to regain her composure, she was again shocked. *He remembered all the countries,* she thought to herself. *Not even Viktor could ever do that.* She couldn't help herself; she walked over to Seamus and gave him a huge hug. He was so (happily!) surprised, all he could do was hug back and grin like the lovesick fool that he was. Malfoy walked over with his two human apes and Dirk. "Daisy? I'd like to apologize," he said. "I didn't even introduce myself and my companions on the train. I'm Draco Malfoy, and this is Crabbe and Goyle." The large boys grunted in agreement. "And this," he added, motioning to Dirk, "is Dirk Sivonen, the pureblood transfer student." Seamus lunged out, wanting to hit Malfoy and wipe that snobby smirk off his face, but Harry and Dean stopped him and dragged him over to where Hagrid was standing with a crate, ready to begin the lesson. Seamus had good cause to want to hurt Malfoy. With that one remark, Malfoy had insulted four people: Seamus, the girl he liked, her best friend, and his best friend. Two Muggle-borns and two half bloods. Seamus only wished he could get a good hit on Malfoy before summer. He shook his head, trying to clear out the thoughts, and watched Hagrid pull a forthal out of the crate. (A/N: a 'forthal' is just something I made up, spur of the moment; no clue what a forthal actually is. Any ideas?)  
  
*~*~*~*  
  
Hermione and Daisy tired easily of Dirk Sivonen, who had pulled his little "leer and wink at the pretty Gryffindor girls" trick again during the lesson, quite a few times in fact. Daisy could tell that a couple of the boys were irritated too, or maybe that was just from hearing the girls complain about him. Daisy made up her mind that the next time he did that, she would have something to say about it - to his face. The Gryffindors all walked silently up to dinner from Hagrid's cabin. Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil, the other Gryffindor girls in fifth year, had also been on the receiving end of Dirk's ogling looks, and neither of them was too happy about it, either. Parvati was the first to speak. "Ooh, that Dirk Sivonen, think just because he's got an accent, all the girls will swoon over him. In his dreams maybe. I'd like to rip off his.." "Parvati!" Dean's eyes were wide. "Don't say that!" All the boys nodded in agreement. Even Neville agreed. "Dirk Sivonen may be a Slytherin, but I wouldn't wish that on any male, even Malfoy.." He shuddered. Daisy stuck up for Parvati. "Well, he certainly deserves it! He's got no right to do that to us! Maybe if he was missing a certain appendage, he'd stop, since he wouldn't have anything left to think with!" Harry shook his head in disbelief, wanting to change the subject. "I still can't believe Malfoy wants to apologize to you, Daisy!" "Well, I'm not going to accept it! He can apologize all he wants, but he'll never make up for all those 'pureblood' comments. Boy, would I love to kick him in the.. Oops, sorry guys." Daisy turned pink. "It's okay," Harry said. "Malfoy brings out the worst in people." Ron nodded. "Yeah," he added, "sometimes I want to kick him like that, but then I remember, oh wait! He probably hasn't got much to kick!" They all laughed and walked into the Great Hall for dinner. 


	9. Dirk Sivonen

This chapter is going to be really weird, because it's from the point of view of Dirk Sivonen, so he's going to take over my narrating job for a chapter. This is dinner in the Great Hall as seen by Dirk Sivonen. Also, there's a little bad language other than "damn" for once in my writing. (You know how dirty boys' minds are!) lol anyway enjoy! (the subject matter is a lot darker, for the most part too)  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
Once we sat down, Dumbledore spoke again. I don't remember what he said. He's always got something to say during meals, that's what Draco told me.  
  
Draco Malfoy. He's always got something to say, too. Pompous little asshole. I'd avoid him if it weren't for his father.  
  
Ah, right, Lucius Malfoy. The man who controls my actions, my voice, my life.  
  
The curse is some fancy derivation on the Imperius Curse. He can control me from a distance; the curse wears off at Christmas, but he'll just renew the curse during break and have me under his command for the rest of the school year. Then he's going to do something, something so awful that I can't even think about it.  
  
I don't understand why he chose me, a poor boy from Tampere, to do his Dark bidding. Me, of all the people in Finland; he had to pick me. I must be the least likely to follow He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but maybe that's why he chose to control me.  
  
But he can't control my thoughts.  
  
I don't *want* to be rude to those Gryffindor girls, but it's supposedly "right" for Slytherins to hate Gryffindors. He makes my eyes wink at them; he makes my lips curl into a leering grimace. I can tell it upsets the girls; especially the Muggle-born and the half-blood transfer student.  
  
Their blood must be the reason Malfoy hates them so much. I don't hate them, but considering my forced actions they must think I do; I'll bet they hate me as well. It's a damn shame I'm in Slytherin, because they're really pretty, especially that transfer student.  
  
Daisy.. Keane? Yeah, that's her name. I'm 5'10" tall, so she's probably about 5'4". She's got dark brown hair down to her shoulders and beautiful blue eyes, the color of the compressed ice I used to see in icebergs on trips near the Arctic Circle. Really tan skin, too. Very strange features for someone of Irish birth, but gorgeous nonetheless. I hear she's really warming up to that Irish boy, Seamus Finnigan. Draco's always referring to them as "Irish half-Muggle lovers." But like I said, he's a pompous asshole. If you ask me, he's jealous that the Muggle-born girl, Hermione, hooked up with Viktor Krum.  
  
I don't really know what's with Draco. He'd be a damn good person, if it weren't for his father's influence. Lucius wants his little boy to be a Death Eater, just like Daddy, so doesn't have much choice but to go along with it.  
  
Draco noticed my blank stare at dinner. (A/N: I know, I just said he can't control his movements such as looking at one spot, but just wait and it'll make sense) He looked across the table at me and said, "Dirk, what are you looking at? Not even Granger is that stunning. Close, but no."  
  
"Just pissing off the Gryffindors again, sorry," my voice said.  
  
"Which one?" Draco inquired. "The Mudblood? Or that new Irish bitch and her half-Muggle sweetheart?"  
  
"I was just looking at the beautiful foreign Gryffindor, wishing she wanted a Finn instead of an Irishman to keep her warm this winter."  
  
Holy shit.  
  
Draco looked at me, his jaw going slack. In my mind, I was doing the very same thing. Had I just said something of my own free will? Had I, for once, said what I wanted to instead of what Lucius Malfoy wanted me to? Had I admitted my feelings about Daisy Keane? And most importantly of all, did this mean I could overcome the curse, even this far away from Christmas?  
  
Luckily, before Draco could formulate a response, his father's curse kicked in. "Only joking, Draco. Why would I want a girl with Muggle blood fouling up her veins?"  
  
As much as I screamed in my head, wondering if it really was a joke, Draco seemed to think this was a sufficient explanation. "Right, Dirk. Have you got a decent nickname? I can't stand saying 'Dirk' this whole year. It sounds too much like a Muggle name."  
  
It is a Muggle name, bastard! I rather like it, too. Dirk, after my German *Muggle* grandfather. Dirk Niklas Sivonen. Niklas is my father's name. He's full-blooded Finnish wizard, but my mom's a German Muggle-born witch. Is that why I can't stand Draco's comments about being pureblooded?  
  
I thought to myself, Tuko. It was a nickname I had back in Tampere. I would always follow hockey, a Muggle sport, and in particular the Ahmat team. My Muggle grandfather instilled that passion for Muggle sports in my heart. My favorite player the past couple years was Lauri Tukonen, so my friends started calling me "Tuko" as a joke, but it just stuck. Somehow, though, I wasn't sure if I wanted Draco calling me that. Reminds me too much of home.  
  
What happened next was the scariest part, stranger even than my thoughts spilling out my mouth.  
  
Just as I had decided to keep my old nickname to myself and make up another one to tell Draco, his father had my mouth say the following words: "Yeah, my friends called me Tuko. How's that?"  
  
Damn! Can he see into my mind as well? Clearly there are some loopholes in this curse.  
  
I hope.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/N: Yes, dark and dismal, but necessary. The "loopholes" are the reason that Dirk's eyes had the unfocused look, if ya didn't catch on to that. So, anyways, I hope you somewhat liked it, and I REALLY hope you review! Yeah, both of you reading this! Lol  
  
PS: Lauri Tukonen is a real player on the Ahmat hockey team in Finland. I don't think he's got a nickname, though. I'll find out what "tuko" means before I post the next chapter. 


	10. It's About Time

Ooh boy, did I find out something interesting. It seems the closest word to "tuko" in the Finnish language is "tukko," which means.. *nervous chuckle* okay okay, it means "tampon"! But, I'm not gonna change it, since I've got everything written out. Besides, it's funnier when Draco calls out "Tuko!" hehehe.. I'm so evil sometimes. But in this chapter, Harry actually has a big part, and we FINALLY meet Prof. Berlin.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
It was Thursday afternoon, and the Gryffindor fifth-years were sitting at lunch, anticipating their first DADA lesson with Professor Berlin.  
  
"Fred and George said he's loads of fun, and from what they say, he sounds a lot like Lupin!" Ron said as they left the Great Hall. "Well, except for one obvious fact, of course."  
  
"Lupin was our DADA teacher in third year," Seamus explained to Daisy. "He was a werewolf, though, so he didn't stay. Damn shame, he was the only good one of the bunch. It's funny, we've had a different teacher every year!"  
  
Daisy laughed. Seamus always seemed to have that sort of effect on her.  
  
They all walked into the classroom. As they sat down and awaited Professor Berlin's arrival, Professor McGonagall came in and asked to speak to Harry outside the classroom.  
  
***  
  
"Harry?" Professor McGonagall sounded anxious. "You've got a lot of thinking ahead of you. I am naming you to be the new captain of Gryffindor's House Quidditch team." She gave Harry a moment to think about this.  
  
Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. Being Quidditch captain was one of the things he had dreamed about for over four years, ever since he had become Seeker and seen Oliver Wood lead the team to victories.  
  
"Furthermore," Professor McGonagall continued, "your responsibility begins right away. Oliver Wood, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell have all graduated, and Alicia Spinnet has moved. You will have to choose four students to fill in the other positions." (A/N: I doubt they're all at graduating age, but it's my story, and anything can happen!)  
  
Harry was still in shock; he stumbled over his words. "So that's.. three Chasers and a Keeper?"  
  
McGonagall nodded. "I will give you some help. I recommend giving Daisy Keane a go at Keeper. She seems the type to me. And for the Chasers, try taking a look at your fellow fifth-year boys." With that, she walked away, leaving Harry deep in thought.  
  
***  
  
The class looked up as Harry walked back into the room. They were obciously hoping that he was Professor Berlin, who had not yet arrived. Harry took a seat in the front between Ron and Hermione.  
  
Ron whispered to harry, "What'd she want?" Hermione, Dean, Seamus, and Daisy all leaned in to hear his answer.  
  
Harry grinned as he replied. "She said I'm Quidditch captain for Gryffindor."  
  
"Wonderful, Harry!" exclaimed Hermione.  
  
"Who else is on the team?" Dean asked.  
  
Harry took a deep breath. "She said that I.." He stopped, looking at the four faces (not counting Hermione's) around him. Four faces, four open positions. McGonagall has said to play Daisy as Keeper, and the other boys as Chasers.  
  
But there were four other boys, and only three Chasers.. Well, she couldn't mean Neville, who at the moment was trying to tape his textbook back together after accidentally turning his toad, Trevor, into a steak knife that jumped around as if it was still a toad. Many a book was now shredded.  
  
Harry came back to reality and looked at his friends with a resigned look on his face. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I mean, you guys are the team. Daisy, you're the Keeper, and Ron, Dean, and Seamus, you guys are the Chasers."  
  
All of them burst into tears, mainly from happiness, but also relief. Seamus grabbed Daisy and gave her a huge hug; she returned the sentiment by kissing him full on the lips. The others just watched and grinned, none of them surprised.  
  
"It's about time!" said Hermione, grinning.  
  
"I know, really!" Dean added. "I thought you two were never going to -"  
  
He was cut off by a loud crashing noise coming from Berlin's office. The office door opened, revealing the tousled Professor.  
  
His dark, close-cut brown hair was the first thing that made Daisy think that Berlin was a decent guy. It was a stark contrast to Professor Snape's malevolent-looking oily, shoulder-length black hair.  
  
The main things that proclaimed Berlin's benevolence were his eyes. Hidden behind thin-framed, oval-shaped glasses, they had the look of shining steel, yet they were blue. They had a tranquil sort of aura that made Daisy want to listen, to learn with unyielding rapture everything this man knew.  
  
Daisy finally broke her gaze away from Berlin, who was trying to dust off his robes, to look at Seamus. He, too, was entranced. He seemed to sense that Daisy was looking at him, because he turned and looked at her.  
  
Time seemed to be moving unnaturally slow for everyone except Berlin. He was still straightening up. Or perhaps time was slowing for him, too, because he seemed to be moving as if walking knee-deep through molasses.  
  
Daisy and Seamus were still gazing at each other, unaware of the total silence around them. They must have been staring for a lot longer than they realized; each looked away from the other only when a kind voice with an American accent said, "Miss Keane? Mr. Finnigan? Would you be so kind as to join us in mind as well as in body?"  
  
Amid chuckles from the rest of the class, they both turned to face Berlin, who was finally ready to start the class. Daisy and Seamus murmured apologies, but Berlin silenced them with a wave of his hand and a smile.  
  
"No need to apologize," he said in his smooth tone, "for being in love."  
  
Seamus and Daisy stared up at him in astonishment. When he smiled at them and winked (A/N: not the Dirk kind of wink!), they both blushed and looked down at their books, too embarrassed to look at each other.  
  
"Now," said Berlin, "I'd like to let you know that we'll probably start the year with studying vampires, then we'll progress to banshees after Halloween."  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy saw Seamus shudder. She remembered him mentioning a fear of banshees once.  
  
"I do not know where we'll go from there," Berlin continued. "However, we will be studying various curses throughout the year, with emphasis on blocking them."  
  
For the rest of the lesson, the class took notes on vampires; nothing else happened worth mentioning. 


	11. Ah, Young Love

All right, a VERY short chapter for me, almost 150 words (I think 146 - yes I counted!), not including my author's notes, but I think it's a VERY necessary element to the story, and should be set off in its own chapter. You'll get what I mean once you've read it.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
On the way to the Great Hall after class that night, Seamus pulled Daisy aside. It was just like that time before Divination: they waited until everyone had gone ahead, then he let go of her arm, reaching for her hand.  
  
"Daisy?" Seamus' voice was hardly above a whisper. He turned his sparkling green eyes to look in Daisy's pale aqua ones.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"From your side of things, how much truth was in what Professor Berlin said, about.." His voice trailed off.  
  
"From my side?"  
  
Seamus nodded.  
  
Daisy continued. "A lot. Too much, probably."  
  
Seamus grinned and said, "Good, then we feel the same about each other."  
  
She returned his grin. "So, there was a lot of truth for your side too?"  
  
"It was all truth. I love you, Daisy."  
  
"I love you too, Seamus."  
  
They kissed quickly, then went into the Great Hall for dinner.  
  
*~*~*~*~*  
  
See what I mean? 


	12. Dirk, Jr & Happy Birthday

Well, this only took me 6 months to pull off! Actually, to be honest, it's been sitting, handwritten, in a notebook since around Christmas. I've been too lazy to type it, but now, with summer here, I succumbed to the boredom and finally crumbled. Also, I think reading the 5th HP book rekindled my imagination for this world!!! I'll go now and try to write another chapter; let's just hope it's not as long in coming as this one was!!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Potter!" Snape growled at Harry. "I will not tolerate whispering in my class! That will be another ten points from Gryffindor!"  
  
Harry simply ground his potion ingredients more finely as Snape continued to dock points from Gryffindor. They had reached a grand total of 85 points lost. Harry, Ron, Dean, and Seamus had now each lost 10 points for talking, and Parvati and Lavender each lost 5 points for giggling. Snape took 10 points from Neville for using an incorrect formula and 10 from Hermione for telling Neville the correct formula. Daisy had lost the other 15 points by dumping her potion on Dirk's lap.  
  
For some strange reason, Daisy had a very self-satisfied smirk on her face. Parvati asked her why, but Daisy, unwilling to lose more points, just grinned wider and shook her head, muttering "Later."  
  
A few moments later, Dirk let out a huge gasp and screamed out, "What the hell?!" Daisy had to work hard to stifle her laugh.  
  
"Mr. Sivonen! What is the cause of this outburst?" Snape was furious and glanced around the room, hoping to catch the irresponsible Gryffindor student who was unlucky enough to so much as look at him wrong.  
  
Dirk stammered, "My.. I mean, something happened to.." He lowered his gaze to his lap. "Never mind, sir. It won't happen again." He glared at Daisy, even though he blushed bright red when he did so and immediately dropped his glance again.  
  
"Five more points will be taken from Gryffindor, Keane, for your pitiful attempt to disguise your obvious amusement at Mr. Sivonen's.. predicament."  
  
This wiped the grin from Daisy's face. Dean leapt up to yell at Snape as he turned his back, but - fortunately - Ron pulled him down and slapped a hand over his mouth before he could say anything.  
  
Daisy glanced back at Dirk, who looked up from his lap with a pathetic look on his face. Daisy grabbed a piece of parchment, scrawled a quick note on it, folded the note, and tossed it to Dirk when Snape (and the rest of the Slytherins) resumed the lesson.  
  
Dirk opened the note, visibly calming when he read Daisy's words:  
  
Don't worry, it wears off after an hour or so. -DK  
  
"What was that all about?" Seamus, obviously jealous, asked Daisy.  
  
"Shh," she whispered back. "I'll tell you later."  
  
The rest of the period, Dirk kept sneaking looks at Daisy, wondering how she had changed her potion, which was supposed to have a glowing effect on whoever or whatever came into contact with it. It had obviously had quite a different effect on Dirk.  
  
After class, the Gryffindors escaped the dungeons quickly, having lost a final total of 103 points (Neville kept having problems with his potion; Daisy had also had a fit of giggles towards the end of class). As they walked into the common room, everyone turned to Daisy and began talking at once.  
  
"I would've hit Snape for you, if Ron wouldn't have stopped me!" (Dean)  
  
"Did you see the look on Dirk's face?" (Harry)  
  
"What was in that potion?" (Parvati)  
  
"What was in that note?" (Seamus)  
  
"Hey, calm down," Daisy said in her mellow accent. "What I did was, when I could tell Dirk was getting ready to piss me off more, I added a little bit of this to my potion." She produced a small bottle from her pocket. The bottle was filled with something resembling finely chopped parsley.  
  
Hermione gave the bottle's contents a curious look. "Monitor flakes?" Daisy nodded. "But if you added this to what we made today, you would get.." Hermione's eyes widened, then she burst into laughter.  
  
"Well?" Lavender was upset at not getting the humor, in spite of the fact that almost no one else did, either.  
  
Daisy grinned again and finished Hermione's sentence. "A shrinking potion."  
  
Everyone laughed - well, everyone except Neville, who didn't get it. Dean whispered in his ear, explaining, and Neville joined the chorus of laughter, although a bit nervously at first.  
  
Daisy looked pointedly at Seamus and said, "All the note said was, 'Don't worry, it wears off after an hour or so.'"  
  
Seamus finally relaxed. "All right, then. Absolutely genius, Daisy."  
  
"Bloody hell, that was pure dead brilliant!" Ron exclaimed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~ A couple of weeks later, a Saturday, Daisy's birthday  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Seamus and Daisy were sitting in the common room, whiling away the minutes before breakfast. Daisy was feeling a little down because Seamus hadn't said a word about it being her birthday. She wasn't asking for a present or anything; a simple "Happy Birthday" would have sufficed.  
  
"Hey, come with me, Daisy. I want to show you something," Seamus said, standing.  
  
Daisy's heart leapt. Could this be a present, perhaps? Did he actually remember, in spite of the fact that he's a male? Daisy smiled, in spite of herself.  
  
They left the common room and walked down a long hall that Daisy felt sure she had never walked through before. Seamus slowed down towards the end of the corridor and turned towards a doorway, which was currently hiding a brown-haired boy that Seamus and Daisy recognized.  
  
"Hey, Justin," Seamus said. (A/N: I just love Justin! He's one of my favorite non-Gryffindor characters; I had to fit him in somewhere!) "Got it set?" Seamus asked as he and Daisy stopped in front of the room Justin was, in a way, standing guard over.  
  
Justin grinned. "Yep. All set for the Irishman and his lovely lass." He muttered the word "Bramada," then opened the door with a mock bow, pointing the way into the dark room. Daisy couldn't see where she was going, and Seamus put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.  
  
"Okay, Justin," Seamus whispered. "Close the door."  
  
Justin backed out of the room, but before leaving the room entirely, he whispered "Kova Bulgaria." He walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him.  
  
Daisy looked around her and thought she was back in Bulgaria. She saw Seamus still standing next to her, but that was all that reminded her of Hogwarts. The Bulgarian landscape was surrounding her, including the silhouette of Durmstrang Castle in the distance.  
  
She looked to her right at Seamus, who was glancing around him in wonder, then she looked down at the ground by her feet. She noticed a picture frame by her left foot and picked it up.  
  
Her eyes looked in amazement at the picture. The two teenagers in the photo smiled and waved at her from their broomsticks high in the air.  
  
She looked at the boy on the left. Viktor was (well, the way he's described in the fourth book; I'll try to let J.K. Rowling describe her own characters!). The boy on the right, Alexander, wasn't as tall as Viktor; he had an enormous smile on his face. His hair was dark brown, almost auburn, and he had brown eyes with little flecks of gold around the pupils.  
  
Daisy tore her eyes away from the picture of her best friends to look at Seamus, who seemed mesmerized by the far-off castle. Seamus got a worried look when he saw tears falling from Daisy's eyes, but that idea soon vanished as Daisy eclipsed him into a hug.  
  
"Seamus.. how did you do this?" she asked him in wonder. "It's so wonderful."  
  
Seamus blushed. "Well, Justin actually did most of it. You would have noticed if I had been sneaking away to fix this! So, the charm only works if you, me, or Justin says it. But Justin's promised not to abuse the privilege." They both laughed.  
  
"And the picture.. How did you get the picture of Viktor and Alexander?"  
  
"They sent it to Hermione and told her to keep it until your birthday, and she gave it to me to put with my present, this room."  
  
"Present..?" Daisy murmured weakly  
  
"Yeah, happy birthday, Daisy. Now, hold on, there's more to this! You can change the location; look!" He pulled out his wand and said "Kova Lithuania."  
  
Immediately, the room around them began to change and, in a flash of light, it settled to an area in Lithuania with cobbled stones and stores all around. One of the buildings was a café called Merhaba.  
  
"Merhaba! I went there with Viktor and Alexander once a couple summers ago to show them where I had lived, then it became our favorite vacation spot from then on." She smiled at the memory. "Amazing, Seamus. Truly amazing. More brilliant than the shrinking potion I dumped on Dirk yesterday."  
  
Seamus tensed visibly at the mention of Dirk's name. "Yeah, well, he deserved that, and more."  
  
"I don't know," Daisy said without thinking. "He doesn't seem that bad at times, but then when I start thinking that, he goes and makes some comment or gesture, and I can't help but get mad, even though sometimes I think I shouldn't be."  
  
Trying to change the subject, Seamus said, "But this room can do more! It can change to any place from your memory that you want it to be, whether you've actually been there or just seen a picture. That's how we did this, Hermione nicked some of your Muggle postcards so we could get the places right."  
  
"Wow.. So then, all I have to do is say the charm, and wave my wand?"  
  
Seamus nodded.  
  
"Okay then," Daisy continued. "Kova Norway."  
  
The room changed again, this time ending with Daisy's favorite spot in Norway: a view from the top of a cliff overlooking a glacier and a fishing town.  
  
Daisy gasped at the view. "That's Norjafjord! Ooh and Smetana Glacier over there! This is insanely wonderful, Seamus!"  
  
He grinned again. "This room is hidden by a charm, Bramada. That also only works for you, me, and Justin. So if you ever just want to come here in spare time or anything, you say Bramada to get in, then Kova and the place you want to visit. Of course, we aren't really these places; they're just images. There's still four walls nearby in here."  
  
"So, we can go to Ireland, too?"  
  
"Yep, and Germany."  
  
"How about we skip Germany for now, and just go to Ireland?"  
  
"Hmm.." Seamus pretended to ponder the situation. "Okay, but it'll be somewhere from my mind."  
  
Daisy smiled and hugged Seamus tighter. "Sounds like a plan to me."  
  
Seamus said "Kova Ireland," waved his wand, and the ice was all gone. Instead, they were standing on a hill, looking at a flock of sheep grazing next to a small house; over the house was a huge, beautiful rainbow. And, at their feet, was a huge meadow of-  
  
"Daisies.." Daisy said, sitting down to get a better look at her namesake flower. "You've really been here? This specific place in Ireland?"  
  
"Yep," replied Seamus, sitting next to her in the flowers. "I was born in that little house, there."  
  
"It's perfect, and everything's so pretty here.. I wish I could remember Ireland."  
  
Seamus, not wanting the conversation to turn sad, kissed Daisy quickly to distract her thinking.  
  
It worked. "This is the best day since I left Durmstrang, by far!" she exclaimed, lying back in the meadow.  
  
Seamus grinned again. "Happy birthday, Daisy."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Whew! I can only hope that you think it was worth the wait! Well, I'm off to attempt some more writing at one of the 7 or 8 stories I've started in the past year (yes, this being one of them!) so buh-bye!!!!!!! 


End file.
